The season that Bauke Mollema will begin tomorrow at the Volta Comunitat Valenciana will be his last in the peloton. The thirty-nine-year-old from Groningen, just hours before his first competitive engagement of 2026, has announced on his social channels that the upcoming year will represent the final chapter of his incredibly long professional career.

"Time flies when you're having fun! From the local NWVG Cycling team to Rabobank/Belkin and now Lidl-Trek, I'm incredibly grateful to have lived my dream for 20 years: now it's time to start my last season as a professional cyclist. One more year, one last dance. See you on the road!" wrote the '86 born Dutchman, entering his nineteenth season as a professional, which began in 2008 with Rabobank.

Throughout this journey, which has seen him wear the jersey of essentially only two teams, Mollema has distinguished himself by winning 18 victories (among which stand out the Lombardy 2019, the stages at Le Puy-en-Velay and Quillan in the Tour de France of 2017 and 2021, the stage in Burgos at the Vuelta España 2013, and the Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian 2016), generally racing with appreciated aggressiveness and effectively supporting his team leaders.

Among these leaders is Mads Pedersen, whom the veteran Dutchman will try to guide with all his experience in Spain in the coming days, aiming for new successes that would allow him to begin the final act of an adventure that, in many moments, has certainly been memorable.